WEBVTT - How Jeans West Failed To Stay Relevant 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:06.960 Hi, I'm Britney Saunders, and welcome to Big Business, the 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.680 place where business is far from boring. And today I'm 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:13.120 recording on gaddigul Land. Now I somehow manage to build 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.040 an empire from the garage underneath my house, and I'm 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.360 here to share it all with you, from the winds, 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:22.919 the mistakes, the challenging times and the funny moments in between. So, 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.799 whether you're in business yourself, perhaps you're not in the 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.640 game at all, maybe you're looking for some inspo, or 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.440 you just simply want to hear the tea, this is 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:35.000 the podcast for you. Coming up on today's episode, we 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:39.120 are going to be deep diving into Jean's West shutting 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:43.200 down and if you haven't heard, they're shutting the whole 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:47.000 thing down. And they are a dinosaur brand which has 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:47.840 been around. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.120 For a really long time. That's what you call brands 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:50.560 that have been around for a really long time. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:52.479 I'm old and. 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.000 We're going to be discussing it. 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.440 And also I'm going to share some of my thoughts 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.840 and some of my fears around potentially finding myself in 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.720 this same position one day, because it's a harsh it's 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.080 a harsh reality. Businesses are gonna end one day, and 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.720 that's just a scary reality that we deal with. And 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.760 before I jump into today's episode, I just want to 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:16.479 do a little reminder. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.760 And you're going to get sick of me. You're going 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:19.840 to be sick of me. 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.920 But just in case you didn't hear like my last 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:26.000 bonus episode or see anything that I've posted on Instagram 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.680 in the last week or so, I have a book. 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:29.840 I have written a book. 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.080 I'm an author and my book is available for pre 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.240 order right now. Xander's going to leave a link in 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.760 the show notes. It's on book Topia. If you love 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.000 everything I do here on the pod, you will love 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.000 my book. So I just thought I would give my 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:44.920 book one more little shout out. But let's just jump 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:52.760 straight into today's episode. Well, Xander, did you know that 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:57.680 approximately sixty percent of Australian businesses fail within their first 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.360 three years, with many failing in the first year. 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.040 I actually did know that because I did business studies 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:05.000 in high school and I. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:07.960 Did business studies too. 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:08.919 I hated it. 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:10.200 I loved it. 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.560 Did you have to like a make up like a 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:14.880 pretend business and have like a business plan? 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:15.360 Yes? 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:15.960 Yeah? Yeah? 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:17.079 What was mine? 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.760 I think I I think at the time, I still 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:22.920 wanted to be a dance teacher, Okay, and so I 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.359 think I like it was a dance school that was my. 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.560 I don't remember what mine was, but it makes me 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.160 wish that I still had like all my old school 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:32.119 I know stuff Cuz imagine. 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:33.639 Lost on the old house computer somewhere. 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.440 Imagine if I'd done a clothing label. I feel like 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.960 I could have, like now that I think about it. Anyway, 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:44.519 For those of you that didn't know that fact, sixty 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:50.280 percent of all Australian businesses fail within their first three years. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.960 That is a very alarming statistic. 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.040 In financial year twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four, 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:03.320 there were four hundred thirty six thousand business entries and 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.000 three hundred and sixty two thousand exits. 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:09.240 That's like almost all of them. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:09.639 Yes. 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.079 Yeah, So Jean's West, which we all know it has 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:15.720 been around for a really long time, they have announced 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.080 that they are going into administration and closing all of 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:24.520 their physical retail stores. And the shutting down of their 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:30.760 physical retail chain will impact six hundred employees across ninety stores. 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.800 It's saying here that the business will still operate online. 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.240 I have a lot of questions around this, and I 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.560 brought a few of them up too before we even started. 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.880 But from someone I'm not in business, so and you've 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.800 mentioned that they would have had leases for the ninety 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.880 stores still ongoing from a couple of years ago. But 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:56.960 like in my head, you know, four or five years ago, 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.800 they knew they were in trouble, they knew their own 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:00.640 over time. 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.680 They went into administration back in twenty twenty, I believe, 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.480 and then I think a parent company came in. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.960 Yeah, it took over, took over, and then it's happened again. 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:16.960 Why with ninety stores across Australia and you're you're in 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:21.960 what it seems like some crippling financial struggles, why would 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:25.359 you not close down a large majority of those stores 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.520 to save costs and then move a lot of your 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:28.440 business online. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:30.160 You think that that's what they would do. 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:30.640 Yeah. 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:35.000 Again, I'm not in any kind of position to be 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:37.920 giving advice, totally. 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.280 Done, but that's where my mind goes. 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:42.720 Me too, Like, the only thing I can think of 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.400 is how difficult it would be to get out of 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:51.200 so many leases, And in my experience, all of our 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.880 commercial retail leases that we sign are five years long. 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:58.440 But I wonder because Jean's West is so big, and 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.640 they've been around for so long, and they've had stores 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:03.200 for so long, I wonder if they're in ten or 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:05.400 fifteen or twenty year leases. 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.119 Because there's a Genes West store in almost every major 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:09.040 shopping so you go to. 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.320 Yeah, I also think I don't know a single person 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:13.160 that's ever shopped. 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.479 At Geans don't. I don't know anyone that's ever shopped 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:17.080 at Jeans West. 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:18.840 And there's so much that I could say here, because 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.440 I'm going to get into it, like what I would 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.960 do if I was Jean's West, But my only thought is, 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:30.360 like with ninety stores, like I can only imagine how 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.080 expensive it would be for them to shut them because 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.080 when you're breaking that lease, you've got to pay it out. 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.400 Yeah, does that depend on the contract you're in. 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:40.920 Yeah. 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.400 And again I can't speak for them because who knows 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.760 what their leases say, who knows how long their leases are, 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.520 But I could only imagine they're probably longer and bigger 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.440 than my little leases. 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:50.680 That I've got. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:55.479 Yeah, but it's so expensive to break a lease, like 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.080 a regular lease, let alone a retail one, like I 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:02.159 can't even begin to imagine, And I'm gonna guess like 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.800 maybe that's why they haven't made the decision to shut them, 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.640 But I mean they've made the decision now. 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:12.560 From your perspective, obviously, Fates like nowhere near as big 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.359 as Jean's West had been yet yet. 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.599 Yeah, Okay, if I could handle that. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:23.680 You know, right now, in the scale that Fate is at, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.000 you would be comfortable with the five year lease that's 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:28.520 kind of like the standard. 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.479 Yeah, but even then that's a really scary thing to 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:32.479 sign totally. 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:36.720 But with their scale, Jean's West scale, do you think 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.040 it would be a common thing to sign a lease 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:40.719 that was a lot longer? Do you think that they 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:42.359 were probably felt safe to do that. 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:44.559 Actually, they could have some really long leases in place. 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:46.680 And again I don't know this for sure, but this 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:48.960 is the scary thing. And I know we've spoken about 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:53.320 this on the podcast before, but signing more and more leases, 0:06:53.600 --> 0:07:00.520 you're extending the hopeful length of your business journey. So 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.920 I have all of my leases now for my five stores, 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.359 and the one that will be coming up first would 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:13.080 be our Westfield Miranda store. Yeah, because besides own Newcastle 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.160 one as well. But that's like with our cafe and everything. 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.360 So that's fine, but I don't know how long we've 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.320 been at Miranda now two years or maybe a bit more, 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.000 so that'll be the first lease that is like coming 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.960 up for either renewal or ending it. And then let's say, 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.680 now if I go and open another store, now, I'm 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.960 starting the five year cycle again, but starting it now. 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.000 It's not as if though, if I open a store 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:43.480 now Miranda and the store I open now will end 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.160 at the same time. So the more and more that 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.760 you pile onto your list of leases, like the longer 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.920 you're you're dragging your business out but in hopes that 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:55.000 you'll still be operating. 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:56.120 Then if you know what I mean. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:01.200 And again, when it comes to having leases, you then 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.760 have to decide at the end, am I going to 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:08.440 commit to another five years or do I walk away 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.120 from the store. So like, for example, our Westfield Miranda 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.680 store in about two years time, will have to start 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:16.680 thinking like are we going to keep this going? Are 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:20.000 we going to commit to another five years in Miranda? 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.880 Because a lot can happen in five years, a lot 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.200 can happen in five days in business, and one of 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.680 the craziest things about business. 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:32.000 When it boils down to it. 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:35.760 I'm not guaranteed tomorrow in my business journey. Shit could 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:39.199 hit the fan overnight tonight and my business could collapse. 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.880 We could make one bad financial decision and boom fate 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.440 could be gone tomorrow. But then you've got these long 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:49.679 leases that you're committed to, and that's just one of 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:54.440 the most difficult things to deal with and sign yourself 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.079 up to. But that's the risk that we take when 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.640 we open retail stores, is we are confident enough that 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:02.840 we can keep that thing going for five years. Yeah. 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:08.640 From an outsider's perspective, looking at Jeans West and how 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:12.679 they've operated over the years, where do you think they 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:17.200 were sitting in terms of how people viewed them as 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.080 a business. Now do you think that they have kind 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.080 of they failed to kind of keep up. Yes. 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.120 The reason why Jean's West. 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.920 I believe the reason why Jeans West is shutting all 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:29.400 their stores is because. 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:30.280 They haven't done anything. 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.840 They haven't done a single thing to keep up with 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.040 the way that the world and social media. 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.920 Has changed, just aggressed instead. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:45.560 They're a dinosaur brand that's been around forever. They've done 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.439 things the same all the time, and. 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:48.559 It has worked in the past. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.080 It has worked, but it's changed so much now and 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.559 it's almost disappointing because at some point there they would have. 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.319 Had the money to change. 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.560 And God, like I wish if I wasn't running Fate, 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:03.880 I could go in and go all right, because at 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:05.839 the end of the day, they just need to level 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:06.800 up their marketing. 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.840 They need to switch it up. What is one cool. 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:16.360 Activational campaign that Jeans West has ever done? 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.160 I can't think of one, and. 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:24.480 It's so frustrating because Jeans West could be cool. I 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:28.120 was even thinking even the name Jeans West, like, I 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.079 feel like that's such a cool name. When we hear 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.760 Jeans West, we do think of like old. But God, 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.199 if they just did like a bit of a rebrand, 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:40.000 got a good marketing gun in even just a really 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:42.199 fire social media person. 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:44.679 They could flip that thing on its head. 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.920 I think a back fifteen years ago in my when 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.240 I was a teenager and I would go into Jeans 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.679 West and look for a pair of jeans or. 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:54.920 Whatever, a piece of clothing. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.400 I would not now, I would never walk into that 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.280 store thinking I'd find something for me. 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:01.679 That's the other thing as well. 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:06.600 They need to realize that retail isn't what it used 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:10.040 to be. It's not just hanging clothes and folding them 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.720 on a table and having foot traffic coming in and buy. 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.680 You've got to create an experience in your stores. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:17.400 And I think that's. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.800 Another part of why they're shutting down all their stores, 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.079 because their stores are bland. 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.160 It's styles haven't changed. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.800 It's not an experience. But don't get me wrong, people 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.560 love jeans like jeans is one of our number one 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.120 selling categories at FATE. People love jeans. They could have 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.600 really like made their whole brand about having the best 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.920 gens ever. I would love if I didn't, if it 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:43.840 wasn't so busy, I would love to go in and 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:46.679 try and help Jeans West hire me as your brand 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.880 and marketing coordinator. I would love to flip that thing 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.200 on its head. And it's just disappointing, you know, And 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.360 I'm sad for any business that shuts down. But at 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.960 some point they would have had the funds to full 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:04.160 rebrand and change up their stores, make it an experience, 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:06.960 kill it on social media. Like they had the funds, 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.920 they had the people, they had the resources. But they're 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:13.240 just so stuck in their old dinosaur ways that they 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.440 didn't do anything about it. And I don't know who 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.840 runs Jean's West, but it's probably like a board of 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.160 directors that are seventy years old or something, you know. 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.360 And it's just a prime example of, you know, a 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.760 brand that's been around forever that just doesn't have it 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:30.920 in them to keep up with how much the world 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.760 and retail and shopping and e commerce is changing. 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:40.319 And that's what I honestly think. 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:42.160 A hypothetical for you. 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:46.800 Yeah, say, for example, God Forbid Fate found itself in 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.840 some financial difficulties yep, which meant you needed to scale 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.240 back to save the business? 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:53.760 Yep. 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.480 How would you go about that? What would your first 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.480 steps be? And I realized this is dependable on how 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.280 bad it is. Yeah, but give us an example of 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.440 the steps you would take to ensure the business survived. 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.960 Firstly, I would obviously speak with our accountant, and we 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.200 do this often and we always look at and know 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.520 our numbers. But I'd be chatting with our accountant straight away. 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.680 I'd be finding out where we're going wrong. I'd be 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.160 finding out what's making us lose money? 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:24.640 Is it the stores? 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.960 Is it you know, head office, like, I'd find out 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.440 where we're losing money and then, sadly, what you would 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:35.719 have to do is look at stripping back. So if 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.920 it was stores, for example, and we weren't making enough 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.200 money in the stores and the business was going backwards, 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.680 you'd have to look at shutting some of them down. 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.000 And we see stores shut down all the time. It's 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.320 hard to own a store. It is so expensive. Once 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:54.920 I knew that, and once I knew what I needed 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.120 to do, once I knew where I was losing. 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.760 Money, I would turn it into a marketing campaign. 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:05.880 I have always been so proud of being open and 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:10.200 honest with our Fate community, with my community here on 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:14.600 big business. I would be completely honest and share my journey. 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.440 I would take it to social media and I would say, 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:21.040 this is happening in my business, and this is literally if. 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.480 This happens like, this is exactly what I'd fucking do. 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.160 If Fate ever is in that kind of position, I 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:27.360 would take it to our community. 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:28.240 I would tell them. 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:30.840 What we're going through, and I would talk to them 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.680 about what we're going to do to try and keep 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:37.320 ourselves afloat. And you see, it's so sad, but you 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.120 know how you see so many businesses like let's say 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.760 a local cafe for example, they're in financial hardship and 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.480 they go to their Facebook page and you've seen like 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.760 posts of business owners say it's with heavy hearts that 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.160 we're closing next weekend, and then you see this uproar 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.560 of community saying, no, you make the best pies. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.320 Happened for a few places here in Sydney and all 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.600 of a sudden, the community. 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:06.880 Like when I've seen it a million times. 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.760 I remember it happened with yogat Land, but did you 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.520 have yogat Land was at just Newcastle thing, so this 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.520 was before Yochi and everything, but there was we had 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:17.400 this yogurt Land. 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:21.720 I think there was two of them. Yeah, I think so, yeah, yeah, 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:23.120 because that would have been so hard for them. 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:25.120 They can't do one line. 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:29.520 No, But I remember, you know they're announcing on their Facebook, 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.600 you know, yoga Land shutting down on in four weeks 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.080 or whatever, and then there was just this uproar of 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.360 support from the people that love yogat Land. So I 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.960 would do the same, but I would do it not 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.520 a week before we're shutting half the company down. 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.480 I'd try and let my community know as soon as I. 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:51.040 Could, because like the power of community is like nothing else, 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:53.600 and I'd at least just give it a shot and 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.840 be honest with everyone and say, this is what we're experiencing, 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:58.880 this is what we're going to do in hopes to 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.560 kind of keep this brand going and a float. I'd 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.480 ask my community for feedback, where are we going wrong? 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.040 What can we improve on, and I'd hear it from them. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.440 I think people wouldn't do that because they probably feel 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.640 a shamed that our business is failing. 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:14.000 One hundred percent. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:16.720 But like I said at the start of this episode, 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.840 like sixty percent of businesses fail in the first three years, 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:22.800 with most of them failing in the first I think 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.800 we've got to lose this sense of like this fear 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.280 of people thinking that we're a failure, because I think 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.920 even if you start a business and it lasts for 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:34.960 three years, let's say, and then you have to shut 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.200 it down because it's just too hard to keep it going, 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.840 I think that's something worth being so proud of instead 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.240 of feeling like you've failed at. 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:42.400 Because you. 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.520 Had an idea and you brought it to life and 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.760 you gave it a go. But we're just so worried 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.760 about what people would say and it's not to say 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.800 if Fate ever finds us in that scenario at some 0:16:56.960 --> 0:16:57.520 stage in. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.440 My life, of course I'll feel like a failure. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.120 But if I'm ever going to go through a really 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:06.320 difficult financial stage with fate, I would want my community 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:08.600 to know what we're going through, and I would want 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:11.960 them to help us to maybe try and pick ourselves 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.479 up again. And not by I mean not just shopping 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.000 with us, but giving us feedback, letting us know what 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.480 we can improve on or fix or level up to 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:22.760 make shopping with us more enjoyable. 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:28.240 Something you just said resonated with me. You said community. 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:33.000 Then do you think Jeans West has failed to establish 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:34.679 their own community? 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.560 Yes, Jean's West doesn't have a community. I don't know 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:42.680 one person. And again it might be the different demographic, 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.240 but I don't know one person that has ever gone 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.520 and shopped at Jean's West. And I feel as if 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:48.920 though people. 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.640 Our age like thirties, forties. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.080 Even people in their twenties, like we all love a 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:56.080 good pair of geens, I feel like they've failed to 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:00.240 capture that market. But Jean's West could be so cool. 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.440 I think Jean's West is such a cool brand name 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:07.520 like West yeah, like it's so it's so cool. I 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:09.840 just feel like they've missed the mark and they've just 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.280 been too stuck in their traditional ways, traditional retail. 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.160 They've got to get with the times now. 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:19.000 On all of this, we've seen a lot of other 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.800 businesses and brands shut down recently, and like over the 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.480 last year, Ali Fashion has collapsed and I've got here 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.120 off Google, owing as much as fifty eight million dollars 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.680 one hundred and fifty eight stores across Australia and online 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:38.920 they employed sixteen hundred Oh Ali Yeah, Ali Oh. 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.919 I'm not that I've ever shopped there, but I know yeah. 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.199 And again that's been around for ages. 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.880 Like I used to go there when I was fourteen 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.199 and fifteen to get a ten dollar dress to wear 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:49.119 to the school disco. 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.960 I just it just is so I'm not in business, 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:57.000 but it's so crazy to me that these huge companies 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:00.399 are finding themselves in these positions where we're actually shutting 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:01.080 the whole thing down. 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:03.159 Well, I think the other thing as well is this 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:08.120 is an example of a brand or a business growing 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.200 too big and to keep it it's out of control. 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.119 And this is what I'm so mindful of is you 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.760 can grow a business, and it can be booming stores 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.960 bing bang bong stores opening up everywhere, but then it 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.440 can become just out of control that the whole thing 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.320 can just collapse and it's so big beyond you. You've 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:29.040 lost the control that you don't you can't save it 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:31.480 because there's too many working parts to it. 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.320 And my community is always saying open. 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.439 More stores, grow too fast. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.680 Yeah, but I'm so careful with what I do, and 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.000 people even say slow down. I'm like, come on, I'm 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.080 managing what we're doing fine. But that's the really scary 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.400 thing about committing to another five year lease on top 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:49.439 of another five year lease and another one, and all 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.960 of a sudden, you've stretched your business out to maybe 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:54.600 the next ten years in hopes that you're going to 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.640 make it, And it's just you've got to be so careful, like, yeah, 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:59.520 you want to grow and be big and successful and 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:01.159